By Zephyria 
After a bit of hesitation, I took a step inside. Strangely, only the leg I put inside felt warm, as if it were basking in sunlight. Aska, who had been watching me quietly, also cautiously put his foot in.
“Is this another space?”
I shrugged at his mutter, as if talking to himself.
“I don’t know. Should we go in?”
Aska hesitated for a moment before nodding. Just in case, I intertwined my fingers with Aska’s, holding his hand tightly as we stepped inside as if passing through a door.
Even though it was just one step, the temperature itself was different. A cozy atmosphere, the strong scent of grass, the faint sound of water…
“Is it similar to teleportation magic?”
“I guess so.”
Aska replied, taking off the hood he was wearing. I went back outside and then back inside, repeating the action. Aska laughed at my bustling movements.
“What are you doing?”
“Just amazed.”
Suddenly feeling awkward, I walked towards the spring. The water was so clear that I could see all the way to the bottom. A small ladybug was sitting on a leaf floating on the surface.
“What came after the spring?”
Aska, who had come to my side, asked, holding my hand.
“Cornus fruit hanging…”
Just then, the ladybug flapped its wings, floated into the air, and flew behind a tree. Casually shifting my gaze, I realized that the scenery was slightly strange.
When we first arrived here, the trees and grass had a fresh, green feel as if they had just sprouted, but now they were much more lush.
“Doesn’t it feel suddenly warmer?”
Aska frowned, as if he also sensed something was off. Now that I heard it, the air did seem a bit heavier.
Feeling uneasy, I tried to take Aska out, but the door we had come through, or whatever you want to call it, the space that allowed us to go outside, had disappeared without a trace.
“What color are Cornus fruits?”
Aska asked as I nervously looked around, my senses on edge. I turned my head to where Aska was looking. There stood a tree with yellow, unknown flowers blooming on it.
The flowers quickly withered, and green grains appeared in their place. In the blink of an eye, the green fruits ripened to a reddish hue.
They were Cornus fruits.
As if possessed, I took Aska’s hand and walked towards it. Something caught on my foot, and I looked down to see a stump with brown mushrooms growing on it.
The weather quickly turned chilly, and the leaves faded, dried up, and fell to the ground in a rustling shower.
‘…ta…Munbina…’
What came after that? The voice was so soft that I couldn’t hear it well.
“Just a moment.”
Just then, Aska grabbed my hand tightly and pulled me strongly towards him. Startled as if cold water had been splashed on my dazed mind, I turned my head.
“Why?”
“I think we’ve gone too far.”
“…Far?”
We hadn’t even moved a few steps? I didn’t understand what he meant, and as I asked again, the surrounding scenery suddenly began to collapse. Saying the scenery was collapsing sounded strange, but there was no other way to describe it.
Each time a piece of paper that had been pieced together was torn off and fell down, the dark abyss beyond surged in and invaded.
“What’s going on all of a sudden?”
“It’s like a boundary.”
“A boundary?”
“Let’s get out of here.”
Aska and I ran along the path, not knowing exactly where we were. But the world was collapsing much faster than we could run.
Eventually, the cracks got closer, and even the ground we were standing on collapsed. Below was a bottomless abyss. Instinctively, I hugged Aska, and the next moment, our bodies were floating in the air.
Aska had taken out his wings and was flying, holding me in his arms.
Creak, creak, creak.
A bizarre sound, like an old tree twisting, began to echo from all directions. Suddenly feeling a chill, I held Aska’s shoulder tightly and asked.
“What about teleportation magic?”
“It’s not working.”
“Are we in a dangerous situation right now?”
“I think so. I don’t think we should touch that black stuff.”
Now, there were no more trees, grass, or springs to be seen. We were flapping our wings and flying quickly somewhere, but I couldn’t even be sure if we were moving at all.
Everything was so dark and black that it felt like we were running in place. Or, should I say, flying in place.
‘…ta…Munbina…’
Then, I heard the voice again in my ear. To be exact, it was a sound from my memory. But even back then, it was too soft to hear properly, so there was no way I could understand what it meant even if I searched my memories.
“What if we die here?”
Aska muttered in a worried tone. I slightly raised my head to check Aska’s face. It was just a pretty face, no different from usual.
The fact that he was even saying such things meant that we were definitely in a dangerous situation, but I wasn’t afraid, and there was no emotional turmoil at all. Was it because I was with Aska?
“Are you scared?”
Aska shook his head at my question, as if he felt the same way.
But Aska still had many things he wanted to see and do, so it would be a shame to die like this. We couldn’t die here in vain.
Was it because of my determination to save Aska at all costs? The sound that I couldn’t figure out even with so much effort suddenly flashed through my mind.
“Burning spruce.”
As soon as I spoke the words, a burning tree appeared a short distance away, as if a picture was being drawn in my mind.
“Do you see that?”
“Are we going there?”
“Yeah, let’s go a little faster. We’re about to be caught.”
Now, the darkness was so close that it felt like we could reach out and touch it. Aska flapped his wings diligently and asked.
“What do we do next?”
“I don’t know. I only heard up to here.”
“Should we try ramming into the tree?”
“Wouldn’t it be hot?”
Even though we were still quite far from the spruce, I could feel the scorching heat reaching us. I hesitated for a moment and said.
“You might get burned, so throw me first.”
“What crazy talk is that? Do you want to die?”
I couldn’t fly on my own, but Aska seemed worried that I would rush towards the burning tree even on my own, and he tightened his arms around me. I was so suffocated that I even coughed.
“We either die together or live together.”
“That’s kind of touching.”
He said it jokingly, but I was genuinely touched. The words that resonated in my heart somehow made my nose tingle. The more Aska’s grip tightened, as if he was going to crush all my bones, the stronger the heat became.
Just as I was starting to feel that it was not just hot but stinging, Aska’s large wings wrapped around us. A crashing impact followed, and we rolled several times on the cold ground.
As the speed gradually decreased and we finally stopped, I muttered without realizing it.
“Are we alive?”
As the black membrane wings unfolded again, the first thing I felt was the cold air. There were only long traces of where we had rolled on the pristine white snowfield.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Aska asked, looking at me with a worried expression. White breath scattered like smoke every time he exhaled. The robe Aska gave me had magic cast on it, so it wasn’t unbearably cold.
I was momentarily lost in staring at Aska’s face, and just as I was about to answer that I was okay, I sensed a presence. Turning my head quickly, I saw a blonde girl standing there, as if she wasn’t a real being.
“You’ve found your way here.”
A calm voice, like a stream in a quiet forest, flowed out softly. Gazing at her white face, which couldn’t hide her delight, I frowned without realizing it.
“Found our way? Does this look like we found our way here? If you’re going to give directions, give them properly. We almost died.”
“You didn’t die, so it’s fine.”
The girl shrugged as her long ears twitched slightly at my grumbling. She came barefoot to within a short distance and squatted down in front of us.
“Anyway, you’ve come to the right place. This is the Primeval Forest where Titania spent her last days. It’s been a very long time since a human has entered, so I’m a little excited right now.”
She seemed to be overwhelmed with emotion. Then, Aska whispered quietly in my ear.
“What’s Titania?”
“I don’t know, she must be famous.”
“I can hear everything, why are you two whispering?”
The girl grumbled with a sulky expression. Suddenly, I realized that we were talking too naturally. We had just met, but anyone else would think we were meeting a friend after a long time.
“But who are you?”
So, I asked belatedly. Her lips moved at my question. But the sound that came out was a language I had never heard before, so much so that I couldn’t even try to imitate it.
“What are you saying?”
Aska shrugged, looking bewildered. She smiled at us and said again.
“Just call me Ophelia.”